The recent popularity of home-caring gradually embraces and integrates the information and communication technology (ICT) into the related caring services for cost reduction. Several alarm systems using ICT are deployed for the elderly living alone. The alarm systems are categorized into different types. For example, one type is the nursing call system used at the medical facilities. When the patient needs assistance, the nursing call button is pressed to notify the nurse at the nurse station. The other type is the emergency call button used in the general home caring system. In such type of alarm system, a button or a string is provided so that when a patient needs assistance, the patient may either press the button or pull the string to send the message, usually a bell or buzz.
Taiwan Patent Publication No. 200737056 disclosed a fall emergency reporting device to detect a fall event through the device angle and the device still time, and immediately send the SOS message with the identification code to the other fall emergency reporting devices in the group to take emergency steps. Taiwan Patent Issue No. 588840 disclosed a personal alarm device using dial-in or wireless activation, or using live audio sound and dialogue contents to be transmitted wirelessly to the emergency wireless transmitter at the control center.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,518,889 disclosed a voice-activated personal alarm to detect a certain set of vocabulary, such as HELP, and send the GPS-like location information.
The conventional alarm technology has yet found to detect the non-voluntary voice or the sound of the human-environment interaction, and then send the voice event to realize the alarm technology capable of active alarming of dangerous events or scenario-inferred abnormal behaviors.